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Lowest estimate I've seen for Kim would be an initial payout of at least $22M ($12M salary and $10M posting fee. The highest I've seen is $15M plus $12M posting fee). Either way he's way out of Stearns' reach. Remember the Brewers still have arby settlements and even if they do get Kim and he plays SS, they still have monsterous holes at 1B and 3B.

I agree Hand would be a great addition if Stearns had cub or Yankee type money, but I can't fathom the Brewers adding $10M under any circumstances unless it's for offense. For a team struggling with payroll, their pen will be about as good as it can get even if they trade Hader. Right now the cavernous holes at 1B & 3B have to be solved first and foremost.

Don't sleep on Arozarina, though. All he's done since getting into affiliated ball is hit. He's also major league ready. I think he's a stud. Glad to see him out of the NL Central. Blind squirrel ... nut ... something or other If this proves anything, it's that the Rays really know their stuff when it comes to talent recognition and player development. I guess they have to be to as competitive as they've been with by far the lowest payroll in the division they play in. The Rays are the franchise teams like the Brewers need to emulate, not the other way around. Boy are you right about the Rays recognizing talent! They do a tremendous job with trades. Trading away more expensive talent to aquire more cost controlled players. I think over half their roster was aquired through trades. I'm pretty sure they only had 3 or 4 guys they developed from the draft to the majors and only had a couple of free agents, with Morton being the only major signing.

I think you're spot on with LaStella if they let Braun go. He would be a big addition to the lineup. Letting Claudio, Sogard, Pina, Gamel go should make the money work. Kirilloff+ for Hader would work depend because Kirilloff is impressive and may be ready in 2021. Gyorko could hold down 1B until Kirilloff gets to the show. I guess it would depend on the + for Stearns to pull the trigger.

I certainly agree that the great journeymen experiment of 2020 was a disaster. But I just can't see them even considering Kim. The estimated contract for Kim is 4/$60-65M plus an additional $12M posting fee to his old Korean team. Anything close to those numbers puts him way, way out of Stearns' reach.

You have Stearns adding payroll (26 man roster at $100M) when he said he will cut payroll. The Tigers certainly won't add payroll and let go of a very promising pitcher. Pina types can be had easily w/o making a trade. You've left CC again with a huge hole at 3B because Lamb is terrible (last 3 years: .222/.307 - .193/.323 - .193/.283) and no solutions at 1B. Lamb is far worse than Gyorko so you have actually made the offense worse.

If Stearns had Dodger, cub, Yankee type money I'd be all in on Castellanos or Ozuna. Unfortunately neither is anywhere close to affordable for Stearns. Castellanos is looking for a $16-20M per year contract. Ozuna was scheduled to make $18M in 2020 and will be looking for similar money. Both would break the bank for a team looking to cut payroll.

I believe getting a good, solid 3B should be first on Stearns' mind. He needs to address 3B and then 1B. Firstbasemen are easier to fill in than a legit thirdbaseman. Gyorko is a career .245/.310 hitter and not the solution at either 1B or 3B. He's a good bench player who could also DH. Urias' bat is far to weak to be considered at 3B. If CC is considering moving Hiura off 2B next year, they should try him at 1B and if he fails then DH. See if Vogelbach can be the everyday DH, cut Braun and use the $11M to find a thirdbaseman.

Forget: Healy - Claudio - Pina (if they tender Narvaez) - Peterson - Gamel (at $2.55M.. keep if they can re-sign at a lower amount, around $1.5M) Have to tender: Woodruff - Hader - Vogelbach (if the NL keeps the DH) On the bubble: Narvaez - Arcia - Knebel The problem with non-tendering Arcia is that Urias is unproven and they would have no backup to go to if he isn't up to the every day job. There is absolutely nobody in the minors and bringing in a veteran would be about the cost of Arcia and about the same production. Stearns and CC have to decide if Narvaez is the 2020 version with the ugly slow-pitch softball uppercut that made him one of the worst hitters in MLB, or the career .267/.355 hitter. At an estimated $5.1M arby cost, is Knebel worth that or can Stearns use that money to help get a corner infielder? Or can Stearns re-sign him to a lower contract. Once Stearns decides on trading Hader, I believe things will fall into place.

Great article. Thanks.

I can't see Dalbec being anything more than a piece of a trade, not the headliner. In two seasons at AA he averaged .240/.361... He moved to AAA and .251/.301. Not a key piece of any trade for Hader.

You were being fatuous right? Why would the Phils take on more money and not fill a need?

I seriously doubt the Marlins would even think about the trade.

I like Dunning and I think you're right about plugging him in to the rotation right away. Bailey is young and a good throw-in. I don't think the rest of the pkg. is good enough for Hader. Sheets is a big, slow, below avg. defender at 1B. An AA guy with avg. OPS and is iffy to make it to the bigs by 2022. Burger hasn't played since 2017 and is a huge injury risk. 3 major left leg injuries in the last two years. I can't see the Sox in the picture for Hader.

Who would you rather have, Ben Gamel for 2 mllion or Profar for at least 8 million? Gamel 2018-20: 255/344/377 (95 wRC+) 26.4 K% (-1.3 BsR) Profar 2018-20: 243/323/434 (101 wRC+) 14.5 K% (+8.5 BsR) For me the switch hitting, positional versatility, contact ability & superior baserunning are worth an extra 6-7 million. When you're a cash strapped team you can't afford the extra $6-7M luxury. Yes Profar offers a little more than Gamel, but not enough to justify the money on a team looking to cut payroll.

Besides the LaStella money being way off, why would you sign Pillar. Gamel is a career .261/.331 hitter. Pillar .262/.299 and would cost $1.5M more. You aren't getting Lux from LA. They want to see him in a full season. Andujar now days, is just a throw-in with any deal. 1B and 3B are still black holes unless Gyorko is slated to fill 1B. What Richards money?

No thanks. Two guys who project to 2024/2025 IF they pan out and a guy who has regressed so much in two years he may not even make the roster.

First you are looking at adding payroll when Stearns all but stated he will reduce payroll. 3B is still a monstrous hole and all of the AA players including Kim are questionable at best.

So just slide right on by my question to you and make this statement above^ brewers888 said: balsamlaker said: I could see Gonzalez or Freddy Galvis? So dumpster diving 2.0. I totally expect another underwhelming offseason unless we can improve through the trade route. Look at the FAs. Who please tell would be players you wouldn't call Dumpster-diving? Can't wait to see this long list...ahem oh maybe it's just one. You're right. With what Stearns has to work with there are few if any FAs worth signing. However if the Brewers had Dodger-like money and you include the FAs with club options there a quite a few who would be the just-dreaming list (Realmuto - LaStella - Rizzo - LaMahieu - Gordon - Iglesias - Brantley - Springer - Castellanos if he opts out - Bauer - Giles - Doolittle). Obviously none of those guys would be affordable for Stearns, so it's just wishful thinking.

I wouldn't mind Urias at 2B with Kim at SS but that still leaves a hole at 3B. I would assume Kim would eat up all of what you get in savings for trading away Arcia or even just dropping Arcia. Assuming Arcia gets traded or released that is about $4m in savings for the Brewers. I am going to assume Kim will get more than $4m and put his figure at a maximum of $15m a season and the minimum at $9m a season. So he should get something like 5-years $60-75m. I don't believe he will get more than that less is possible but definitely not more. I think Kim might be the whole off season budget assuming the Brewers keep Hader and reduce payroll. If the Brewers trade Hader there is probably enough room in the free agency budget to get Kim and Profar maybe even LaStella depending on the market for LaStella. I believe LaStella gets a nice contract this offseason around $10-15m a year. How in the world do you believe the Brewers could sign Kim ($approx $65M PLUS about $11M in fees to the Korean team)? Then you think there would be room for Profar and LaStella too? The Crew is likely cutting payroll and probably won't have room to aquire any of those guys if their salary demands go beyond the $7-8M range.

Profar is a .238/.317 career player who played well in a shortened season. He projects to be more expensive than LaStella if you are using 2020 numbers. He is way too expensive for what he brings to the table for a team strapped for cash. Stearns can't afford even one flyer if payroll is being cut, and Profar would be a huge gamble.

If they are thinking of Gonzalez, Stearns might as well just keep Gyorko and save a lot of money.

And we also saw Yelich who only took off once he came to the Brewers. Jeremy Jeffress...I remember him looking pretty good here as well. We drafted him...and he's thrown ~305 of his 424 innings as a Brewers where he's been better collectively than everywhere else. Jesus Aguilar-WE'RE the team that plucked him from the scrap heap and turned him into an OF'er. In fact...most of the players you mention broke out when playing for the Brewers...and the Brewers have done a better job of finding other teams players and having success than other teams have had picking up our discarded players. Sure, guys like Shaw who we non-tendered(again, AFTER he broke out here for a couple years)...I don't understand how you're using these players as examples of the Brewers not being able to develop talent. Maybe the case is more the Brewers can't afford to acquire elite talent at numerous positions so they have to take risks. Often times those players have had some measure of success, then regressed toward the players they actually are and gotten expensive and the Brewers have had to let them go. Again, the point isn't that they can't find talent, it's that they are abhorrent at maintaining talent and fixing issues when they come up. Jeffress was one of the five best relievers in the National League in 2020 and the Brewers let him walk. Shaw turned in one of MLB's worst seasons in 2019 and in 2020 he would have had the 6th highest OPS on the Brewers. Urias played substantially worse for Milwaukee in 2020, while having a substantially better home park to play in 2019. Sogard's OPS dropped 250 points, YOY. Holt's OPS dropped 450 points from last year, then as soon as he goes to a different team - in the same year - his OPS jumps 346 points. In the same season Aguilar gets traded his OPS goes up by 66 points. Zach Davies is going to be on the Cy Young ballot, meanwhile Eric Lauer was left off the 28-man playoff roster for guys like Adrian Houser and Josh Lindblom. And Omar Narvaez was the 3rd worst hitting catcher in all of baseball, only outpaced by dynamos Tony Wolters and Roberto Perez. What's the common denominator? Shaw stunk and his OPS was .717. Just because he would have had the 7th best OPS on one of the worst hitting teams in MLB, doesn't make him anything CC would have wanted. You are basing all your assumptions on a very short season. To follow your logic, Yelich should be traded because he stunk. Belinger should be available for a song because he stunk. Stearns should dump Woodruff because he had a bad year too. Nothing can be assumed based solely on this season.

If it is all about the money then Sanchez makes more sense than LaStella does. LaStella is probably in for a nice raise this off season probably at least $10m and maybe more. So you might be looking at something like a 3-years $45m for LaStella at a maximum which would be all of the Brewers off season budget if they are going to be cutting payroll. I think Sanchez could be someone the Brewers put at 1B or DH and try to save money there and then pick up someone like Profar to play 2B/SS/3B/OF. The Brewers won't have to give up all that much to get Sanchez either someone like Supak or even Pina could get that deal done. I think you are way, way off with LaStella. Maybe 3/$22M or something like that would be reasonable. If you believe Sanchez is so bad that the Crew could get him for Pina or Supak, why wouldn't they just keep Pina? Sanchez is making $5M and arby eligible. Pina is a better defensive catcher and hit better plus he would be cheaper. Profar was making close to $6M and is a FA after 2021. He alone would cost more than LaStella.

Why would Stearns even think about such a deal? It still leaves two gaping holes on offense and his biggest trade chip gone for two prospects. Campusano is not ready to help right away. He has played exactly on game above high A level. He is at least a 2022/2023 ready player. Patino is a highly thought of pitcher who really stunk this year because he too has almost no experience above A+.